Welcome to the Neighborhood (13 page)

His soft voice calmed her while his blue eyes offered compassion. Part of her wanted to believe he cared. He acted different from the others. Was he different, or could the pain have distorted her thinking processes?

“You have helped.”

“You need to feed.” He moved closer.

“I will. I’m going out.” She stepped away from him until her ankle bumped into a box.

“Why waste time?” He lifted his arm to her. “I’m here, willing to share what I have.”

“You don’t know what you’re–”

“I do know,” he said in an elevated voice as he shortened the distance between them. “Damn it, you are not well enough to leave this house.”

She walked backward, trying to keep space from him but eventually she’d hit the wall. “I’m a vampire. I’ve been in far worse situations and drained to the brink of insanity, but I survived. This little bit of dehydration is nothing. Be careful, Greg. I’m still stronger than you, even in this condition.”

When she smacked into the wall, they both stopped.

“Why won’t you feed from me?” he asked in a calmer tone.

“You’re my neighbor.”

“So what?”

He lifted her hand and gently placed her palm on his chest. She gazed into his blue eyes while the beat of his heart thumped under her palm. Heat penetrated through his shirt and her flesh. She chilled from his warmth. Searching for a distraction, she breathed in his scent. The soft musk with a twist of spring freshness appealed to her. She’d picked up his perfume earlier from his shirt, but denied how good it smelled. Now, she couldn’t. Her sharp teeth ached, signaling they were ready.

“Tell me why you refuse me.”

She listened to his heart. The strong, steady beats were a soothing sound to her ears.

“I owe you enough.”

Greg brought his body closer to hers and stared deep into her eyes. “You owe me nothing but answers.”

Her brows rose. He wanted answers to what? Her puzzled thoughts scattered as he brushed his nose and lips over her cheek.

“What questions do you have?”

“Why do you refuse me all the time? Has someone hurt you?”

She lowered her gaze. The painful encounter was one she didn’t care to share. Some memories were better off locked in a vault, as her maker often told her.

“Someone has.” He backed up a few inches. “I sense it in the way you respond. I’m not like that person. I would never harm you.”

Alexi chuckled in her head. How many times had a man sounded so nice and turned out self-centered and rapacious? Too many.

He lifted her chin. “I’m attracted to you, Alexi. I
want
to help you and to know more about you.”

While Greg acted different, she had difficulty believing he was. Men used her. They always did. She didn’t want to risk her body and soul on a chance that he might be real, might be honest and caring.

She removed her hand from his chest. “I appreciate everything you’ve done to help me. I’ll reimburse you if you tell me what you want.”

He glided his hand down her arm. “I don’t want money. I want answers and to help you. You’re an incredible woman I can’t stop thinking about.”

Not only did his touch provide her with more chills, so did his words. She enjoyed knowing he had an interest in her, but his goal to obtain answers bothered her. Answers to her past would only tarnish her reputation. No, she couldn’t give him what he sought. She’d just moved into the area. How could she look at him or anyone else if she spilled her deep secrets?

“What if I don’t want your help?” she asked, avoiding the first part of his request.

“You need my help.”

“I can manage.”

He clenched his jaw and raked his fingers through his dark hair. “You are one incredibly stubborn–”

“Are we done here?” She arched a brow. “I really need to go out and feed, then find a hotel to stay at.”

Greg grumbled and reached for her shoulders. He pinned her to the wall and claimed her lips. He plunged his tongue into her mouth and kissed her with enough zeal her head spun. She responded without hesitation, welcoming his warmth, his explorative tongue and the hard muscle touching her stomach. Desire quickly replaced pain. She longed for his touch, for him to fill her. And he seemed to be eager to do just that. He rubbed his solid erection against her and she moaned softly. God, he felt incredibly hard. She yearned for him, but she had to resist. Her intense hunger for blood and sex made her dangerous.

She wedged her hands between their bodies and braced them on his chest. Her body hungered for his, but she didn’t want to hurt him. She broke off the kiss and pushed him back. He stumbled a few steps and stared at her, his eyes hungry with lust.

“We can’t do this,” she said.

“Why?”

Did the werewolf ever stop asking questions? Maybe he learned it from being a lawyer.

“Trust me.” She stepped past him and grabbed her suitcase. “We can’t.”

He gripped her arm and spun her to face him. “I want you, and I think you want me. Stop fighting it.”

“This isn’t a game. I could hurt you.”

“You won’t. I promise. Please, listen to your heart.”

Tears built in her eyes. He trusted her with his life. Why? They barely knew each other. Did he care that much for her? Did he really think they could have a chance together? Surely he didn’t love her. Love didn’t exist. And she had plenty of proof. Every time she listened to her heart when it involved a man, she gained a world of pain and suffering.

“Please, don’t stop me. I’ll contact you by tomorrow night.” She swung the heavy suitcase around and headed for the door.

“Wait. Please!”

She kept walking, suitcase in hand. If she stopped, she’d cave and let him have his way with her. And where would she end up? Used like all the other times.

“Alexi, wait!”

She heard his fast beating heart behind her. “Don’t follow me. If you want to help me, then let me go and I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Gritting her teeth, she lifted the bag and ascended the stairs. When she reached the top, she glanced over her shoulder. Greg stood with his hands on his head. His sealed lips and pained expression pierced her heart like an ice pick. What if love existed and she’d never seen it until now?

She rounded the corner, pushing the question out of her head and holding back the cry ready to burst free. If true love had found her and she was walking out, then she was making the biggest mistake in her existence.

* * * *

Greg stood, horror-stricken and heart aching as he watched Alexi walk away. He tried to stop her. Words didn’t help, nor did his show of deep longing. He wondered if he’d been too forceful, but he merely wanted to prove to her how much he yearned for her. She had a thick skull and nothing seemed to get through it, until he kissed her. She responded beyond his expectation, sucking on his tongue so vehemently he almost had an orgasm. Then, she pushed him away. Why? He couldn’t understand her and it was tearing his heart to shreds.

He turned away and swung a punch in the air. “God damn it!”

Fury blazed within him. His bones tingled and made him pause. A good run would help him blow off steam, or a good blowjob. Her cold lips would easily soothe his ache. Why did he continue to think about her? She rejected him.

“Fuck it.” He didn’t know what else to do. He headed for the stairs, only to stop when his phone vibrated. He withdrew it from his pocket, checked the screen, then answered. “Are you at home?”

“Yeah, I was about to come over to cover the hole until I saw the police cruiser in the driveway,” Corey said. “Are they gone yet?”

“They left, and so did Alexi.” Greg passed the stain and ascended the steps. He made a mental note to call a cleaning crew in the morning.

“What do you mean she’s gone? Where did she go?”

“She refused me and left to find someone else to feed from.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good, right? You don’t have to worry about her biting you.”

“To be honest, the thought never bothered me. She needs help.” He rounded the corner and headed for the kitchen table where her clothes were in a neat pile on one of the chairs.

“And you’re just the one to give it.”

Greg sighed. “She refuses my help every fucking time. I’m so frustrated.”

“She’s a vamp. You’re better off finding a fae. At least they don’t bite.”

He stopped at the table and spotted two business cards and a key. One card listed her information. The other was from the moving company. He lifted her card and noticed a wet mark on it. A tear?

“Shit.”

“What?” Corey asked.

“Nothing.” He studied the card with her email and telephone number. The area code was from Chicago. Maybe she’d moved from there. No surprise, the card didn’t show an address.

“I have a board to cover the hole in her glass,” Corey said.

“Don’t bother, the police are sending a forensics team out to check for prints. They asked her to stay away for two days.”

“Where is she going to stay?”

“She said she would find a hotel.”

“Well, I guess your job is done, counselor.”

“I’m waiting around for the team to show up, then I’ll be home. It shouldn’t be much longer.”

“All right, see you soon.”

“Bye.”

Greg lowered the phone while he continued to stare at Alexi’s card. She’d cried, which seem to indicate she didn’t want to leave. Her voice had quivered right before she left. If her heart begged her to stay, why didn’t she?

The issue plagued him and gave way to more questions. Who had hurt her? What had this person done to make her so bullheaded, so self-reliant, so…guarded. Yes, she had a shifty attitude around men. The entire time the officers were around, she’d watched them with suspicion. She’d treated him the same way when they’d first met. Come to think of it, Corey too. A deep feeling in Greg’s gut warned him a man had somehow wronged her in such a way she’d formed a predisposed opinion toward the opposite sex. Damn, he had a severe challenge to overcome. Given the recent turn of events, he wondered if he could.

He looked at the tearstain and hoped found a way into his heart. Maybe he did have a chance at gaining her trust. Perhaps he could break through her barriers with a little extra effort on his part and more TLC. It was worth a try. She did seem to enjoy his tongue. Why not give her more?

He slipped the card into his pocket along with the one from the moving company and the key. The woman he cared for had been hurt for far too long. His new goal was to get her to accept him. He wanted her to understand just how much he could love and please her. It wouldn’t be easy and he’d probably start growing gray hair, but he was ready for the challenge. Her brick wall would crumble and so would she, in his arms. He couldn’t wait to catch and hold her.

12

Alexi opened her eyes to the light spilling into the room around the window. The drawn curtains prevented the sun’s rays from reaching her, but granted a soft glow in the room. It couldn’t hurt her, but the illumination interrupted her sleep. She’d tossed and turned and dozed off multiple times since sunrise. In her dark, windowless basements she never had trouble napping. But she wasn’t at home.

Trapped in a small, boxy hotel room eighteen miles from Westport she lay on her stomach with a large pillow between her arms and under her head. The scent of bleach from the sheets gave her a mild headache, but considering the pain she’d felt before she’d fed, she accepted the minor irritation. Outside, cars zoomed by from the interstate. The digital clock on the nightstand showed 6:10 in big red digits. In twenty-seven more hours, she would return to her house.

She squished the pillow between her arms and her thoughts returned to Greg. Since she arrived at the hotel, she couldn’t get the werewolf out of her head. He’d looked so dejected and on the brink of tears when she walked out on him. He pleaded for her to stay. She’d never seen or heard a man act so overcome with emotion. It was as if he had deep feelings for her. But how could he when they’d only met recently? Every time she heard his words and pictured his sad face, her heart ached and her throat tightened. Damn it, what was wrong with her?

She rolled over on her back and stared up at the ceiling. The werewolf was the sweetest, most helpful and compassionate man she’d ever met. No matter how many times she pushed him away, he persisted with his desire to help her. And if rejecting him wasn’t enough, she made a fool of herself plenty of times, enough to drive most men away. She’d thought he was gay. Shouldn’t that have offended him? He’d seen her vibrator. Didn’t he think she was some weirdo, horny vamp? No, he practically begged her to stay. His determination amazed her.

Why was he keen on helping her?

She racked her brain for hours, trying to figure out his reasons. Nothing made sense. She couldn’t understand why he was so sincere and kindhearted toward her.

Did he really care about her? He couldn’t love her. It wasn’t possible. Over three centuries of experience proved men used women, fucked them and sucked them dry. Men didn’t care how women felt, didn’t care about feelings. They just wanted to get what they wanted, most of it through sex, then move to the next willing victim. She wanted to believe Greg was different, but how could she when she’d seen and struggled through years of abuse?

He’d asked her to listen to her heart. Logic told her if she did, she would regret it. No man really cared about a woman. Most certainly, no werewolf would concern himself with a vampire. She decided to listen to reason, not an unbeating heart.

She twisted to her side and kicked the sheet covering her legs. Irritation gnawed on her. She owed Greg for the little bit of assistance he’d given her. As soon as she could scratch the debt off her list, she could move on without him.

The buzz from the nightstand behind her jarred her. She twisted and the sheet tightened around her. “Damn it!” She wiggled and pushed the covers away from her.

Lifting the phone, she saw Cassandra’s number displayed on the screen.

“Hello.”

“You didn’t call me after your party,” Cass said with a slight touch of whininess in her tone.